Scottish Executive

Airports

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been relating to the possession of offensive weapons at airports in each year since 1999, broken down by airport.

Colin Boyd, QC: There is no specific offence relating to the possession of offensive weapons at airports and our case data does not enable us to identify cases involving the possession of offensive weapons at airports separately from cases relating to other locations.

Education

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many appeals were received against the (a) primary and (b) secondary school placement of a child and how many, and what percentage of, such appeals were successful, in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority.

Peter Peacock: The information requested is only available for the school years 1995-96 to 2002-03. The tables show the number of appeals against an education authority’s refusal of a placing request.

  

Primary Schools
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99


Appeals*
Successful Appeals**
Appeals*
Successful Appeals**
Appeals*
Successful Appeals**
Appeals*
Successful Appeals**


Aberdeen City 
0
0
0
0
6
1 (16.7%)
1
0


Aberdeenshire
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0


Angus
2
0
9
6 (66.7%)
5
0
5
0


Argyll and Bute
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Clackmannanshire
0
0
1
1 (100%)
0
0
1
0


Dumfries and Galloway
10
5 (50%)
3
1 (33.3%)
2
0
2
0


Dundee City 
48
8 (16.7%)
39
14 (35.9%)
13
0
15
0


East Ayrshire
1
0
0
0
10
0
0
0


East Dunbartonshire 
0
0
4
3 (75%)
6
0
3
0


East Lothian 
6
0
11
0
0
0
9
7 (77.8%)


East Renfrewshire 
3
0
6
0
11
3 (27.3%)
10
1 (10%)


Edinburgh, City of
81
4 (4.9%)
115
8 (6.9%)
164
16 (9.8%)
64
10 (15.6%)


Eilean Siar
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Falkirk 
6
0
3
0
10
5 (50%)
20
0


Fife 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Glasgow City 
21
0
17
1 (5.9%)
69
4 (5.8%)
30
1 (3.3%)


Highland 
0
0
5
0
0
0
2
0


Inverclyde
0
0
0
0
3
1 (33.3%)
3
30%


Midlothian 
1
0
2
0
0
0
0
0


Moray
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


North Ayrshire
3
0
1
0
0
0
1
0


North Lanarkshire 
7
0
2
0
0
0
1
1 (100%)


Orkney Islands 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Perth and Kinross
7
0
7
2 (28.6%)
4
0
4
1 (25%)


Renfrewshire
49
6 (12.2%)
18
7 (38.9%)
15
6 (40%)
15
0


Scottish Borders
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Shetland Islands 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


South Ayrshire
8
0
0
0
0
0
11
0


South Lanarkshire 
0
0
1
0
22
16 (72.7%)
0
0


Stirling 
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0


West Dunbartonshire 
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


West Lothian 
11
2 (18.2%)
4
1 (25%)
10
4 (40%)
1
0



  Note:

  *'Appeals' shows the number of appeals to Education Appeal Committees.

  **'Successful Appeal's shows the number of successful appeals to Education Appeal Committees or Sheriffs.

  

Primary Schools
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03


Appeals*
Successful
Appeals**
Appeals*
Successful
Appeals**
Appeals*
Successful
Appeals**
Appeals*
Successful
Appeals**


Aberdeen City 
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
0


Aberdeenshire
0
0
1
0
1
1 (100%)
10
6 (60%)


Angus
9
3 (30%)
0
0
0
0
0
0


Argyll and Bute
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Clackmannanshire
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway
0
0
20
0
0
0
0
0


Dundee City 
26
2 (7.7%)
43
7 (16.3%)
48
20 (41.7%)
52
3 (5.8%)


East Ayrshire
20
13 (65%)
15
2 (13.3%)
13
6 (46.2%)
16
16 (100%)


East Dunbartonshire 
3
0
5
0
10
7 (70%)
22
0


East Lothian 
1
1 (100%)
0
0
1
0
13
0


East Renfrewshire 
13
0
11
0
11
0
1
0


Edinburgh, City of
45
5 (11.1%)
55
1 (1.8%)
70
2 (2.9%)
114
1 (0.9%)


Eilean Siar
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Falkirk 
4
0
10
2 (20%)
4
0
24
3 (12.5%)


Fife 
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2 (100%)


Glasgow City 
63
2 (3.2%)
112
6 (5.4%)
29
2 (6.9%)
36
2 (5.6%)


Highland 
7
3 (42.9%)
9
0
15
2 (13.3%)
13
0


Inverclyde
1
0
3
0
3
0
6
0


Midlothian 
0
0
0
0
14
1 (7.1%)
2
0


Moray
0
0
3
0
1
1 (100%)
14
3 (21.4%)


North Ayrshire
1
0
0
0
0
0
5
1 (20%)


North Lanarkshire 
0
0
4
0
11
1 (9.1%)
1
1 (100%)


Orkney Islands 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Perth and Kinross
7
2 (28.6%)
10
3 (30%)
3
1 (30%)
7
1 (14.3%)


Renfrewshire
2
0
28
0
26
0
22
2 (9.1%)


Scottish Borders
0
0
1
1 (100%)
0
0
1
1 (100%)


Shetland Islands 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


South Ayrshire
8
0
2
0
5
0
2
0


South Lanarkshire 
4
0
1
0
0
0
0
0


Stirling 
2
0
2
0
0
0
17
17 (100%)


West Dunbartonshire 
0
0
0
0
8
0
7
0


West Lothian 
19
5 (26.3%)
13
1 (7.7%)
26
11 (42.3%)
30
6 (20%)



  Notes:

  *'Appeals' shows the number of appeals to Education Appeal Committees.

  **'Successful appeals' shows the number of successful appeals to Education Appeal Committees or Sheriffs.

  

Secondary Schools
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99


Appeals*
Successful
Appeals*
Successful
Appeals*
Successful
Appeals*
Successful


Appeals**
Appeals**
Appeals**
Appeals**


Aberdeen City 
0
0
37
0
28
0
35
0


Aberdeenshire
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0


Angus
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
0


Argyll and Bute
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Clackmannanshire
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Dundee City 
30
10 (33.3%)
68
6 (8.8%)
6
1 (16.7%)
23
6 (26.1%)


East Ayrshire
0
0
12
0
2
0
4
0


East Dunbartonshire 
4
0
3
0
26
0
16
8 (50%)


East Lothian 
1
0
12
0
3
0
2
0


East Renfrewshire 
25
0
26
0
19
0
15
0


Edinburgh, City of
56
4 (7.1%)
159
9 (5.7%)
148
4 (2.7%)
125
0


Eilean Siar
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Falkirk 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Fife 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Glasgow City 
26
0
77
0
114
8 (7%)
77
2 (2.6%)


Highland 
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
0


Inverclyde
12
0
15
1 (6.7%)
6
0
6
0


Midlothian 
0
0
0
0
0
0
17
0


Moray
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


North Ayrshire
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


North Lanarkshire 
18
0
4
0
0
0
9
0


Orkney Islands 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Perth and Kinross
0
0
3
3 (100%)
0
0
0
0


Renfrewshire
16
0
18
0
5
0
4
0


Scottish Borders
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Shetland Islands 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


South Ayrshire
3
0
2
0
0
0
0
0


South Lanarkshire 
6
6 (100%)
4
0
21
4 (19%)
9
0


Stirling 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


West Dunbartonshire 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0



  Notes:

  * 'Appeals' shows the number of appeals to Education Appeal Committees.

  **'Successful appeals' shows the number of successful appeals to Education Appeal Committees or Sheriffs.

  

Secondary Schools
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03


Appeals*
Successful
Appeals*
Successful
Appeals*
Successful
Appeals*
Successful


Appeals**
Appeals**
Appeals**
Appeals**


Aberdeen City 
35
0
37
1 (2.7%)
21
1 (4.8%)
30
0


Aberdeenshire
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
7 (100%)


Angus
6
0
8
3 (37.5%)
2
1 (50%)
12
1 (8.3%)


Argyll and Bute
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Clackmannanshire
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Dundee City 
13
1 (7.7%)
31
4 (12.9%)
46
4 (8.7%)
30
4 (13.3%)


East Ayrshire
7
0
0
0
7
7 (100%)
9
9 (100%)


East Dunbartonshire 
31
0
34
0
10
0
20
0


East Lothian 
4
0
2
2 (100%)
9
0
5
0


East Renfrewshire 
69
2 (2.9%)
37
0
26
0
46
4 (8.7%)


Edinburgh, City of
129
1 (0.8%)
131
0
102
3 (2.9%)
153
10 (6.5%)


Eilean Siar
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Falkirk 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Fife 
5
1 (20%)
0
0
0
0
1
1 (100%)


Glasgow City 
180
10 (5.6%)
167
5 (2.9%)
105
6 (5.7%)
253
10 (3.9%)


Highland 
3
2 (66.7%)
2
0
1
0
0
0


Inverclyde
19
0
14
0
21
3 (14.3%)
8
0


Midlothian 
0
0
1
0
5
0
8
0


Moray
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


North Ayrshire
0
0
10
10 (100%)
0
0
8
0


North Lanarkshire 
0
0
39
0
2
0
0
0


Orkney Islands 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Perth and Kinross
0
0
0
0
6
5 (83.3%)
0
0


Renfrewshire
9
0
22
0
9
0
6
0


Scottish Borders
7
3 (42.9%)
0
0
0
0
0
0


Shetland Islands 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


South Ayrshire
0
0
0
0
2
1 (50%)
8
1 (12.5%)


South Lanarkshire 
5
0
0
0
1
0
37
0


Stirling 
0
0
1
1 (100%)
0
0
0
0


West Dunbartonshire 
0
0
1
1 (100%)
0
0
0
0



  Notes:

  *'Appeals' shows the number of appeals to Education Appeal Committees.

  **'Successful appeals' shows the number of successful appeals to Education Appeal Committees or Sheriffs.

Fertility Treatment

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is proposing any changes to the eligibility for NHS-funded IVF treatment.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Programme for Clinical Effectiveness in Reproductive Health (SPCERH), commissioned by the Chief Medical Officer, held a consensus conference in 2003 to reconsider the eligibility criteria for access to NHS funded infertility treatment. The Executive, working with NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, are currently reviewing the feedback from the conference and are also reviewing the current level of service provision across NHS Scotland. If after the completion of these reviews, expected later in 2004, there was a recommendation to change the criteria then this would be subject to a full public consultation exercise.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any payments remain outstanding for the disinfection of farms during the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001 and, if so, when these payments will be made.

Ross Finnie: There are no payments outstanding for the disinfection of farms.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to give patients with mental health problems access to homeopathy treatments.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to S2W-9719 on 16 August 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Police

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers were on long-term sick leave in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: The number of officers on long-term sick leave at any given time is not held centrally. Information on the number of long-term sick absences, defined as periods of sick leave of more than 28 days duration, for each the last five years available, is shown in the following table.

  Number of Long-Term Sick Absences for Police Officers in Scottish Forces

  

 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


Central Scotland Police
51
79
66
75
78


Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
27
37
34
37
34


Fife Constabulary
54
50
57
53
56


Grampian Police
75
91
55
66
48


Lothian and Borders Police
296
254
338
324
365


Northern Constabulary
39
32
49
50
63


Strathclyde Police
1,015
815
812
740
788


Tayside Police
240
124
140
114
97


All Forces
1,797
1,482
1,551
1,459
1,529



  Note: Source is Annual Statistical Returns from forces as submitted to HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Rail Network

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual maintenance costs of the Forth Rail Bridge have been in each year since 1998-99 and what the projected maintenance costs are for (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06 and (c) 2006-07.

Nicol Stephen: The cost of maintaining the bridge is an operational matter for Network Rail.

Rape

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people convicted of rape in each of the last 10 years had a previous conviction for the same offence in total and broken down into (a) police force area and (b) sheriff court district.

Cathy Jamieson: The available data indicates that between 1993 and 2002 one person, in Lothian and Borders in 2001, was convicted of rape having previously been convicted of rape. The data held centrally does not cover convictions for rape prior to 1989 or outwith Scotland.

Young Offenders

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in providing 29 additional secure accommodation places for young offenders, announced by the Minister for Education and Young People on 24 March 2003.

Cathy Jamieson: Construction work at St Philip’s School began at the end of June 2004. Good Shepherd and Kibble Schools plan to start construction of their secure developments by March 2005, with the Kerelaw and Rossie developments due to start later in the financial year 2005-06.

  The development timelines are typically around 3.5 years, the first 24 months involving detailed design, financial and project planning and construction work thereafter taking around 18 months.